Hints of Spring

Warm, dry and cloudy, SW3 - A most pleasant couple of days of weather, particularly yesterday with the sunshine elevating temperatures into the low teens. At Lade the Dabchicks were trilling across the wetlands along with soaring/displaying Buzzards and Marsh Harriers over the Desert, while the Boulderwall wetlands was full of activity from wildfowl, Lapwings, Curlews and egrets. Today was cloudier with a blustery wind for our circuit of Dungeness during which I noted at least 10 Stonechats holding territories, plus a few singing Meadow Pipits, Skylarks, Dunnocks and Pied Wagtails. The sea was relatively quiet with just a couple of skeins of Brents moving up-Channel and a scattering of Great Crested Grebes, Guillemots and Red-throated Divers on the sea. Cockles Bridge held a flock of egrets (15 Cattle and seven Little) on the sheep paddock and a pair of Whooper Swans in the cereal field opposite. The wintering Bewick`s Swan flock on Walland has now departed on its long and hazardous journey to their breeding grounds in northern Russia.

                                 Curlew - Boulderwall wetlands

                                  Flood water - south of Trapping Area

                                  Ted 

                                  Demolished Sewerage Plant - A Station

    Cattle and Little Egrets - Cockles Bridge

    Whooper Swans - Cockles Bridge

Sad to say that I`m from a generation of birders that has fond memories of the hey-days of the sewerage farm - Maple Cross, Perry Oaks, Reading and Wisbech spring to mind. Throughout the 1960`s most were upgraded, rendering many not so bird-rich; although I was fortunate enough to have Dunstable Sewage Works as my local patch for nearly 30 years which retained four tertiary treatment lagoons, plus additional ponds and scrapes when part of the site was designated a nature reserve. 

However, I mention this while lamenting the demolition of the small treatment plant in A Station at Dungeness this morning; for those of you not so familiar with the layout, it was the section that could be viewed from behind the seawatch hide just beyond the wall. The circular sprinklers over clinker attracted insects which in turn lured the likes of Black Redstart, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit and Chiffchaff to feed, and where once I saw a Hoopoe! 

Slavonian Grebe

Cold, cloudy, showers, SW3 - After a week away up country, dealing with family matters, it felt great to be back home on the Marsh and out birding with Ted this morning, even if the weather was grim. We took a long sweeping walk around Lade and Kerton wetlands taking in Mockmill and returning via the beach. The five wintering Goldeneyes on the lakes contrasted with at least four pairs of Great Crested Grebes in various stages of their nuptials, along with singing Dunnock, Great Tit, Cetti`s Warbler and Song Thrush on the land. North lake attracted five Mediterranean Gulls while a Marsh Harrier and two Buzzards were noted over towards the airfield. Our next port-of-call was Dungeness where the assistant warden Jacob had returned for another summer season; typically, he`d already found a decent bird - a Slavonian Grebe on the sea, and no doubt may more will follow over the coming months. 

                                    Sanderling and Dunlin - Lade bay

Chiffchaff

Cold and wet, S 5 - A miserable day for the monthly WeBS and harrier counts with a biting wind swirling around from the north. At Lade there was not much change to the wildfowl with six Goldeneyes the highlight and an increase in Great Crested Grebes to 12 as pairs move back in for the forthcoming breeding season. This afternoon I ventured out on Walland with Chris where 21 Marsh Harriers (11 of which were males) came to roost at Cheyne Court. There was little else of note due to the grim weather conditions other than a Peregrine, a Kestrel, c10 calling Water Rails and several Cetti`s Warblers.

                                   Chiffchaff - Lade

On Friday, in much fairer weather, a singing Chiffchaff at Lade was my first of the year, while yesterday at least eight Snipe were disturbed from farmland cover along the New Cutt, plus several singing Skylarks, 20 Fieldfares and four Yellowhammers along Hope Lane.

Barnacle Goose

Dengemarsh - mild, dry and sunny, light airs - A half decent day at last with the sun putting in a long overdue appearance and also being appreciated by the Hammonds Corner Little Owl sunning itself on the corner gutter of a barn. First off we walked the gully which was pretty much devoid of bird life apart from a couple of Ravens overhead and a singing Cetti`s Warbler. We then slogged around a soggy circular route where there was a noticeable increase in Reed Buntings across the wetlands with several already in song, a trio of Stonechats, more Cetti`s Warblers, Bearded Tits from the ramp and a flock of 15 Meadow Pipits on the flood field along with at least one Water Pipit. All the usual wildfowl, egrets and harriers were noted along the way plus a couple of Curlews, a Sparrowhawk and a `jangling` Corn Bunting and two singing Skylarks on the farmland. The Bouderwall fields were packed out with Lapwings, Wigeon and feral geese while a flock of Cattle Egrets flew over the car along the Lydd Road (Martin counted 21 earlier). On the way home I called in at the bay for a look at the lone Barnacle Goose reported by Owen first thing, an unusual record and the first I`ve seen here; many thanks to Dave Scott for forwarding on his superb picture below.

Elsewhere this past week a couple of drives out across Walland have yielded the Bewick`s Swan flock (complete with Nadine from the Novaya Zemlya archipelago) and the Tundra/Pink-feet flock, plus pitiful numbers of passerines such as Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Yellowhammer, Linnet, Tree Sparrow and winter thrushes. Visits to Scotney to search for last weekends Red-necked Grebe drew a blank, but I did note the Whooper Swan family on the old sand pit. The American Wigeon has eluded me since its arrival last Friday, having been seen once on ARC but mainly back around the Scotney complex where it was located by Owen today on the lake behind the farm and right of the track.

                                  Barnacle Goose - Lade Sands (by Dave Scott)

American Wigeon

Mild, overcast, drizzle, SW 2 - The wet weather continues... We started the morning at Lade where a couple of hints of spring comprised a passage of 60 Meadow Pipits over the desert and a sky-high calling Sandwich Tern (my first of the year) that headed out towards the bay. There was nothing new on the lakes apart from a pair of Great Crested Grebes on south. Moving onto the reserve where the highlight was a Kingfisher and a Great White Egret in the same field of view on Cooks, plus two Yellow-legged Gulls on Burrowes. As I was leaving site news came through on the local WhatsApp group (from DB and NB) of an American Wigeon reported at Scotney, a long-expected rarity and as far as I`m aware a no-show in the past twenty years that I`ve lived here. I was soon on site to confirm that indeed it was a smart adult drake American Wigeon within a large flock of Wigeons. I didn`t have my scope with me but managed to get at least one record shot pic with the camera; and thanks to the trio of birders from Thanet who stopped enabling me to have good scope views through their optics.

                                 Kingfisher and GWEgret - Cooks Pool

                                 Drake American Wigeon - Scotney

 

Pintails

Dungeness - warm, dry and sunny - For once a superb day and a relief to be out in the field after the dull, dreary wet weather of late. We started at Lade to give Ted a bit of leg room out across the desert towards the water tower and back along Mockmill behind the `mirrors` where two Buzzards and a Kestrel were hunting the wet fields. There was no change to the duck numbers across both waters with five Goldeneyes and a drake Pintail still present. Moving onto Dungeness a 30 minute seawatch from the boats delivered plenty of auks, Kitts and Gannets moving offshore plus a party of five east-bound Pintails. Next stop the bird reserve where hundreds more wintering wildfowl were on ARC from Hanson hide including two more Pintails, four Shelducks and two Goldeneyes. The wet fields across the road at Boulderwall looked superb in the bright sunshine and perfect habitat for the wader passage this spring, for which I`ve got high hopes... However, today c500 Lapwings and a couple of Curlews were present along with a hundred or more feral geese and three cracking drake Pintails that dropped in on what was formerly Tanners Pool. Across the wetlands down to Dengemarsh at least six Great White Egrets were noted along with `pinging`  Bearded Tits from the ramp, several Marsh Harriers, Buzzards, Kestrels and a Sparrowhawk, and a Water Pipit on the flood. We finished the day off checking the bay waders where eight species were logged. Bird of the day though was the Pintail, surely the smartest of ducks.

Elsewhere this past week the two wintering Whooper Swans are still around Walland, although mobile; this morning they were reported from Cockles Bridge. On Monday I saw seven distant Tundra/Pink-footed Geese and 42 Bewick`s at Midley, plus hundreds of Fieldfares and a few Redwings, Yammers and Tree Sparrows along the remaining hedgerows that have survived the ravages of the landowners. The small grey goose flock containing White-fronts, Tundra/Pink-footed Geese was also reported on Walland today from Beaconsfield fleet by SM. 

                                  Boulderwall Wetlands

    Pintails - ARC